Keep Us Posted

By mail to the Office of Alumni Relations, One College Drive, Bennington, Vermont 05201

Class notes are published biannually in the Bennington Magazine. Please note: due to space constraints, Bennington reserves the right to edit and condense class notes submissions. Read the online version below.

10s

Ava Sullivan ’12 & Silas van der Swaagh ’12 wed on June 25, 2016 in Cape Cod, MA. They met at Bennington and took classes together, including Mary Lum's class on collage. Silas studied art theory at Bennington and now works manufacturing custom glass in Brooklyn. Ava studied science and works at a public health research non-profit fighting diseases with pandemic potential in Manhattan. They credit the Green Mountains for providing a backdrop to their meeting.

J. Mae Barizo MFA ’13 has a new book, The Cumulus Effect, that is out now from Four Way Books.

Lorraine Comanor MFA ’13 reported in May: “The NER [has] published an essay of mine, written at Bennington, and nominated for a Pushcart this year.”

Nicholas Janikian ’13 is currently "working at an art school on the opposite side of the country. I sorely miss the warmth of VAPA and the incredible faculty and peers who occupy that space each and every day."

Hannah Rojo ’14 is completing her AmeriCorps service year with City Year in Washington D.C.

Daniel Roberts MFA ’14 was hired as assistant professor in Dance at Ohio State University. He continues to produce his own choreography and is a teacher and stager for the Merce Cunningham Trust.

Tenara Calem ’15’s play, AVIVA IN OCTOBER, has recently been chosen for one of the top ten finalist positions in the Jewish Play Project's 2016 National Playwriting Competition. After showcase readings across the country, the winner of the contest will receive a 29 hour workshop at the 14th St Y in Manhattan this summer.

Jaymee Weaver ’15: "After graduating from Bennington College in [December] 2014 I moved to Ecuador and I am now finalizing my Fulbright project, which was to present a community theatre piece in Quito June 2016. ‘The song behind the Machete’ was a community theatre project to empower women and preserve ancient cultures and natural environments in two distinct villages in Ecuador. Bennington has showed me how the power of theatre can be a tool for raising awareness about social issues and generating a dialogue nationally and internationally about social injustice. It has also been used to find local solutions to global problems.” Five women from each community performed in the final theatre piece in June 2016. “‘When a woman rises up, the whole village rises up!’”

00s

Timothy Laden Crum ’01 married Stephen John Koebel on December 28, 2015 at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago. There was a charming reception of afternoon tea at the Drake Hotel afterwards. Rachel Jans '00 was a reader at the service. Other Bennington folks in attendance included Jenava Sexton '00, trustee James Simon '97, and faculty member Danny Michaelson. The service reflected the couple's interest in social action as an act of love, a passion Laden cultivated at Bennington. Laden will be taking Stephen's last name, Koebel.

Jessica Mileto ’02, also known by her pen name J. Carson Rose, has self published her debut novel, The Grey Woods: In the Footsteps of Kings. She describes it as fantasy fiction and book one in a series, in a similar thread to Game of Thrones, adding, "I actually began writing the history of one of the main characters while I was attending Bennington. So, 15 years in the making!"

In 2015, Nicole Donnelly ’02 became the President of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA). "I am now planning a paper arts conference in Brazil for September 2016. While I am still painting, I am also an avid hand papermaker since 2007 and self-employed operating my own community-accessible paper studio, paperTHINKtank, since 2013. In addition, I serve on the board of Mary Tasillo ’02’s nonprofit The Soapbox: Community Print Shop & Zine Library, all here in Philadelphia, the city that changed its tagline."

Becky Strohmer '03 is back in school working on a second bachelor's in electronics engineering. She gave a talk at TEDxEAL in Odense on gender identity and assumptions.

Robbie Cook MFA ’04 started a new job as Assistant Professor of Dance at Hofstra University, “where I will be teaching technique, composition, somatic forms based in pilates and yoga and creating choreography on the students for annual dance concerts. The job at Hofstra is a tenure-track position, therefore I will be living in NYC creating my own work as well as teaching nationally and internationally for my research. I recently returned from a trip to Europe where I started a long-term collaboration with a dance and film artist in The Netherlands. My ties to many people that I worked with at Bennington remain strong and I will be collaborating with another alum, Keith Thompson [MFA ’03], on a new work starting this fall.”

Rebecca Rideout ’04 and W. Ryan Nestor ’04 welcomed their son Oliver William Whitney Nestor in May of 2015. Becca is owner and operator of the video production company Told Video. Nestor is the Lead Interactive Designer/Developer at Monadnock Media, Inc. They live in Greenfield, MA.

Catharine Maloney ’05 had a small book of photographs published on Skinnerboox Press, Italy. She also went on a U.S. tour with her band Teen Men, opening up for Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah last summer.

Valerie Wetlaufer MAT ’05’s 2nd book of poetry was published in March of 2016 by Sibling Rivalry Press, entitled Call Me by My Other Name. "It was started in 2005 while I was at Bennington studying with Mark Wunderlich."

After moving back to Pakistan in 2009, Yousef Kerai MAT '05, had started to work with musical maestros in Karachi. "We slowly started to rethink the way in which traditional South Asian music was presented and wanted to find ways in which to engage a more diverse audience with our music." As a result he created the ensemble called Tarz Group and through sponsorship and other generous patronage they managed to do many concerts in Karachi and one in Lahore. They “now finally” released their first ever musical album called The Essence of South Asia.

Hannah Dibner ’07 is working on an MS in Forensic Science at Chaminade University of Honolulu, conducting research on postmortem ecology. She currently inhabits a Twilight Zone where maggot masses are perfectly acceptable lunchtime conversation and graduate advisors say things like, “I don’t want you to stress too much.” She occasionally gifts forensic practitioners with copies of her Bennington senior project (maggot paper dolls).

Kirk Kenney ’07 currently resides in Beijing, China. He writes, "I'm a professional musician here, and just received a State Department culture grant to perform and give workshops about American old time music around China. I think it'd be cool to involve Bennington students in that somehow."

Margaret Rizzio ’09 recently bought her first house in Camden, Maine where she works in the Arts in Education Department at the Farnsworth Art Museum. She also creates work in her studio everyday and had two solo shows in Maine this summer.

90s

Caitlin Lally Hotaling ’90 writes, "After years of different jobs the dream job has presented itself: Children's Program Coordinator at Bushnell-Sage Library. Loving being a librarian of sorts, while also farming, which is my husband's dream, a popcorn farm. Life is good even with a teenage daughter."

Hedda Krausz Sjögren ’94 reports, “I am really happy to say that my adaptation of this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in literature Svetlana Alexievich will be on at Royal Dramatic theatre tomorrow as part of the celebrations for the winner. It was great to connect in the spring; I look forward to staying in touch and would really love to visit Bennington at some point in the future.”

Rob Faucette ’96 writes, "My wife and I are currently fostering a sweet 10-month-old girl and hope to adopt her one day. I recently self-released an album of original songs called Damn Old Heart which can be found on iTunes and BandCamp and am currently playing shows in the L.A. area"

Nick Wroblewski ’96 illustrated a children’s book called Wake Up, Island written by Mary Casnova and published by the University of Minnesota Press in 2016. The book features 24 original woodcut prints.

Carleen Zimbalatti MFA ’98 curated an exhibition, The Significance of Detail. In her statement she writes, "my interest in curating is to evoke visual literacy, to showcase and offer opportunities to my fellow artists, to develop a shared dialogue of the artists’ mutual perspectives and methodologies, and to educate the viewer’s understanding on how the some of the most fundamental aspects of pictorial language and its vocabulary (the principles and elements of art) evoke visual diversity as much as it suggests a vast exploration in visual literacy. In this case, The Significance of Detail, will highlight the abstract and communicative qualities of detail as a visual language, in both, subject and voice; and contrast each of the artist's’ visual journeys through the diverse use of detail as analytical and intuitive constructs of pictorial space. More importantly, the artists chosen for this exhibition communicate the importance of detail and how the juxtaposition of artistic elements are tangible aspects that give meaning to the visible world."

Lyra Silverstein ’99 became interested in pursuing graphic design following her graduation from Bennington. "I furthered my education by earning an A.A.S. Degree at Gibbs College in 2004 in Visual Communications. Held a few different jobs over the years in the print publication industry and now I do photo retouching for Barney's New York for their online web store."

80s

Andrea Geddes Poole ’80 now serves as the Executive Director of the Bhutan Canada Foundation (Toronto and Thimphu), “which places teachers of Maths, Science and English in public schools in the remoter regions of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. This past April I had the pleasure of leading a tour/trek of two valleys of Bhutan, as I do twice a year, autumn and spring. I'm planning our next trip for late March 2017 so if any alumni are interested, please let me know at andrea@bhutancanada.org or check out our website, www.bhutancanada.org. Since the death last year of my father, I have also assumed responsibility for my grandfather's foundation, which supports education in Canada. Finally, I have recently been appointed to Ontario's Consent and Capacity Board which adjudicates matters of capacity and applications regarding involuntary committals. This should all keep me pretty busy.”

Shymala Dason ’82’s short story collection Inside Out was shortlisted for the 2015 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Series editor and judge Nancy Zafris said, “...the author finds unique particulars to take us to the familiar universals. Thus, the particular high-stakes associated with a Malaysian man’s sexual preference (as well as the even higher stakes involved in his Muslim friends being gay) is rendered through a moving and familiar mother-son story.” About her stories, Shymala writes, "I’ve had most of these stories done for a decade or more, gathering dust and not being sent out because an eminent literary person who shall remain nameless was totally unimpressed by them, which is proof that one should always listen to that inner Bennington voice and ignore ‘authority.' The stories themselves turn characters inside out and look at them from nonstandard perspectives, so I think I can still claim some Bennington street cred."

Oliver Trager ’82 has been dedicated to reviving, exploring and celebrating the legacy of Lord Buckley (1906-1960), a neglected American visionary word jazz performer, poet, philosopher and generally exotic subterranean creature for nearly three decades. He was first exposed to Lord Buckley’s amazing monologues at Bennington in the mid-1970s and – as a Lit major and jazz freak – Buckley's melange of oral and musical traditions combined with a buoyant world view, and grabbed him like nothing else ever had or has since. Some years later, he commenced researching Buckley’s’ life in depth and eventually wrote and published Dig Infinity! The Life & Art of Lord Buckley (Welcome Rain Publishers, 2002). Along with producing annual Lord Buckley spoken word and musical events at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC, he wrote a screenplay based on his research. After staged readings in 2012 & 2013 and an award-winning run at the 2014 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity – Outstanding Adaptation, Lead Actor (Oliver Trager), Supporting Actor – his recent and rather successful run of “Dig Infinity!” at the 2015 Fringe NYC Festival enjoyed five full houses, fine reviews and press including a splashy “New Yorker” Hilton Als-penned write-up, and enthusiastic and responsive audiences.

Lisa Conrad ’85 writes, "This is my first writing in! I received my MFA in Visual Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Art and Design and MLIS (Library and Information Science) from San Jose State University. I live in Oakland, CA, and recently started a new position as Digital Scholarship Librarian at California College of the Arts. I'm at work on a large-scale art entitled “4 1/2 feet,” a performative art adventure that explores the American landscape by bicycle from the perspective of abandoned railroad."

Teresa Booth Brown ’85 taught two workshops last summer at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado (near Aspen). She adds, "Last summer at the Anderson Ranch I was very pleased to be presenting my work in a faculty lecture the same evening as Barry Bartlett. He and I were both there teaching for the same week. It was great to catch up with him on all that is going on in VAPA."

Ben Schenck ’86 and his band Panorama Jazz just celebrated 20 years in business. They were featured on the cover of New Orleans' Offbeat Magazine and just launched a new subscription service, a "variation on crowdsourcing where subscribers automatically receive a new track direct from the band each month." The goal is that "income from that service will cover the cost of making the tracks and we're coming along towards that goal pretty well so far." The band played in Baltimore at the New Orleans North Jazz Festival.

DD Dorvillier ’89 premiered her Creative Capital Project, Extra Shapes, last March in the Kitchen, NYC. According to the Creative Capital blog: “Extra Shapes—a project supported by Creative Capital—​takes place in a rectangular ​playing ​space divided into three stripes​,​ ​like our slice of Neapolitan ice cream. Each stripe represents three different mediums: strawberry (sound), vanilla (light), chocolate (dance)​. The full piece consists of three simultaneous​ 17-minute sequence​s​​ of each medium​ repeated three times. After each iteration the audience moves to a new side of the rectangle, and the perspective of the viewer shifts, as experiences accumulate.”

70s

Victoria Ellington ’70: "My husband and I continue to publish our monthly journal on biotechnology called MedNous. We are enjoying following developments in medical innovation."

Allan Holzman ’70 is an Emmy and Peabody award winning filmmaker who just finished a book he's been working on for 35 years: Celluloid Wars: Welcome to the Roger Corman School of Filmmaking, which is a companion to his film, C-C-Cut: Autobiography of a Stuttering Filmmaker.

Peter White ’71 completed his PhD at Dartmouth, and became a professor in Biology at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He served for 28 years as Director of the North Carolina Botanical Garden. He reports, "Last year I received several awards—including the Pritzlaff Conservation Award from the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the Edward Kidder Graham Award for faculty service from UNC, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the NC Governor’s Office, and the Star Award from the Center for Plant Conservation. I have happily given up the administrative half of my job in favor of being a full time professor in my last working years. I gave one of the science talks at Bennington during the ceremonies for the 75th Anniversary, showing how this career began at Bennington." This past spring he was named to the list of 100 most influential people in the history of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a list which encompasses folks in all walks of life from about 1900 onward who have helped conserve the park.

Choreographer David Appel ’72 premiered a new solo, sparks off the tips of our fingers, in November 2015 at Dixon Place, New York City. According to his website, "David is a choreographer and performer whose work has been presented in a wide range of contexts and situations throughout North America, Europe, and in Mexico since 1973. While primarily following his own path, he has also performed along the way with Simone Forti, City Dance Theater of Boston, several dance/music collaborative and improvisation groups, and many other individual artists in a variety of media. He has received a number of grants and awards, among them three NEA Choreographers Fellowships, and has been invited to festivals in both the United States and abroad."

Starlina Peyson Bradbury ’72 writes, "I am still so grateful for my year at Bennington. It fostered within me a spirit of creative problem solving and a love for 'creative spirit' that is still part of my life today."

Marsha Winsryg ’72 writes, “I graduated from Bennington in 1972 and have had a few different careers through the years. At this point I run an non profit dedicated to raising money for a small home for disabled children in Livingstone, Zambia and one way I do this is with small tours to Florence, Italy where I lived for a while. I have two tours coming up in October 2016 and two in March 2017.” Check out her website, “I’ll think you’ll find it interesting.”

Rashid Dilworth Silvera ’72has gone from fashion runways in Paris and Milan, the cover of GQ, and international stardom as the first black man to be featured in a Polo Ralph Lauren campaign to the front of a social studies classroom in Westchester.

Randie Denker ’72 writes, "Hello Vermont, and may I say, thank you for giving us Bernie Sanders! I am still practicing environmental law in Florida. I am also working with an anti-fracking group to stop fracking in our state. Half of the 67 counties have passed bans or moratoria as I write this. I have also been involved with the US Supreme Court case that will decide how the waters of the Chattahoochee, Flint and Apalachicola Rivers will be allocated in the future. I also served as a mediator at Florida State University for their mock negotiations on various environmental issues. I keep threatening to retire but it never seems to happen. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, I am happily unmarried to Steve Leitman, a hydroecologist and university professor, and together we run Waters Without Borders, an organization that does transboundary water allocation work to help settle international, national and regional water issues. My beautiful daughter is on schedule to gift me with a first grandchild in June and I am pretty much over the moon about it."

Dlovid Dingle ’73: "After being (somewhat hastily) air-lifted out of Iran a few years ago in an unpublicized covert op, and following clandestine maneuvering in support of the Venezuelan opposition to the Maduro dictatorship (no more can be publicly said of this, but watch for news), and then a brief but messy altercation in eastern Ukraine (you don't what to know), Dlovid has been consulting with the Miami/Dade office of Regional Security to ensure and enhance port safety from unspecified external and non-state threats, while concurrently patrolling his beautiful golden beach to repel boarders and insure compliance with turtle-nesting ordinances. He continues to accumulate local awards for accurate grammatical usage and consensual civility, while attempting not to augment the league-leading vehicular/pedestrian fatality totals."

Ross Zucker ’74, a professor of political science at Touro College and University System, published an article entitled "What Type of Political System Is the US?" in March in the Journal of Political Power, a publication of the International Political Science Research Group on Political Power (Volume 9, Issue 1, 2016, pages 5-44). Ross's Facebook Page contains a link to the article, in which he challenges the two leading theories of the American political system as a "pluralist democracy " (rule by multiple minorities) or "plutocracy" (rule by the rich). He defends the view that the US belongs to a type of system between these two alternatives. He calls the system "unequalocracy," meaning rule by political unequals, which he argues is a much less democratic system than a pluralist democracy is. The article is discussed by Mark Haugaard, an expert on political power, in an Editorial (pages 1-4) of the same journal.

Nancy Melvin ’76 has left teaching at the Waldorf School and now tutors knitting and dyeing with plant dyes through Knit in Chicago. She also designs and sews cozy at home clothing that translates to street wear with Union Handmade, a consortium of 12 women designers all manufacturing in Chicago. Her husband Tom Melvin ’75 continues to design and paint large scale murals around the country and paint the architectural illusions of his etching teacher at Bennington, Richard Haas. Reach the Melvins at Melvinstudiochicago@gmail.com

Polita Cohen Glynn ’75 marked ten years as director of the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation, which is part of the Pew Charitable Trusts. She continues independent script writing and recently participated in the sundance screenwriter intensive in Miami.

David Lazar ’77 is a Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction in 2015-16. After leaving Bennington, he did M.A.s at Stanford and Syracuse, where he worked with Ray Carver and Hayden Carruth, and his PhD at the University of Houston, where he was awarded the first doctorate in nonfiction writing in the country. He taught for sixteen years at Ohio University, where he created the undergraduate and PhD programs in nonfiction writing, and currently is Professor of Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago, where he founded the undergraduate and MFA programs in nonfiction writing. He is the founding editor of the literary magazine Hotel Amerika. His books include Who's Afraid of Helen of Troy (Etruscan Press) , After Montaigne (Georgia), Occasional Desire: Essays (Nebraska), Essaying the Essay (Welcome Table), Truth in Nonfiction (Iowa), The Body of Brooklyn (Iowa), Powder Town (Pecan Grove), Michael Powell: Interviews, and Conversations with M.F.K. Fisher (both Mississippi). His book of aphorisms is forthcoming from BlazeVox Press.

60s

Ruth Ann Fredenthal ’60 had five large paintings on display at the Palazzo Della Penna in Perugia, Italy from June 19 until November 8, 2015 as part of "The Perception of the Future; The Panza Collection in Perugia." The exhibition was accompanied by a very large, illustrated catalogue/book. She traveled to Italy the first week of November to see the exhibition, spent the day there in Perugia on November 3rd and was featured in a public discussion of the Panza Collection and her work that evening with the art editor and curator, Giorgio Bonomi.

Beverly May Vail ’60 writes, "My husband and I, Robert Vail, have six grandchildren ranging in age from 18 to 7. We spend our winters in New York and enjoy traveling often and recently with a group from Williams, my husband's alma mater. Two recent trips here been to Myanmar and Japan, both fascinating. would love to hear from alumni in New York."

Stanley Berke ’60, P’19, writes, "My son Jacob Berke [’19] is currently a freshman and my recent visit produced a rush of excitement, memories and achievements. I sensed that he as well would be thoroughly engaged, challenged by his personal journey of discovery thereby, deepening his spirit of imaginative adventure. My impression is that he has found his place and forging his rite of passage. As Professor Emeritus of Dance I can say without any hesitation that it has been a privilege and honor to dedicate my life as a dance teacher offering common sense education of the human spirit, experiences that unfold the nature of the aesthetic, embrace the value of philosophic ideas, develop confidence in intellectual and reflective reasoning, lastly, to be connected with dance and kinetic, visual and emotional communication. Yes, this started with my dance experiences at Bennington which prepared me for a life that I would characterize as momentous, uncommon, enriching and amazingly continues to resonate this very day. I am now in the process of writing a collection of personal essays on dance, introspective letters and poems that celebrate special occasions, artistic and educational experiences in the Middle East, Australia, Japan and the United States."

For the past 25 years, Deborah Culver Lawlor ’61 has been a Co-Artistic Director of The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles together with her artistic partner, Stephen Sache, with whom she founded the theatre in 1990. She writes, "I'm very proud of the quality of writing, directions and acting that we have nurtured and presented at the Fountain and our status as one of the premier theaters in L.A.- winning innumerable awards."

Patricia Hempstead ’63 reports, "I retired from a very rewarding third career as a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. at the end of January 2016 and am now enjoying a busy retirement in Maryland, close to my daughter who lives in Washington, DC. I look forward to increasing my involvement in volunteer and club activities as well as brushing up on tennis and golf. Having moved in early September, I have ‘weathered’ my first East Coast winter - not too challenging I must admit - but have yet to experience the full effect of a warm, humid summer. Now that I am positioned on the East Coast, I look forward to being able to visit Bennington when an alumni event is available. Meanwhile, I continue to thank my splendid Bennington education for fitting me so excellently for all three of my careers (Molecular Genetics scientist; Executive Director of an association representing municipal governments in Canada; and the most recent financial advisor opportunity). The flexibility to make major changes and the breadth and depth of educational exposure enabled me to be successful in meeting widely different challenges. These attributes were direct Bennington legacies. I look forward to drawing again on my Bennington experience as I work to make my retirement another positive adventure."

Andrea Woodner ’70 and Sophia Healy MFA ’65 recently collaborated for the first time on an exhibition at Vassar College’s James W. Palmer Gallery.

Susan West Hirsh ’66 is looking forward to 50th Reunion. "Hoping to get there!"

Danielle Forestier ’66 writes, "I’m loving retirement. I love designing my day each morning following my whims, my goals, the sunshine or dew drops. I have projects to complete, stuff to learn, dance and music for my soul and my weeks are packed with satisfying and productive pursuits. It’s the good life! And thanks to B-ton for its contribution in life being so good."

Patricia Woodbridge Dunn ’68 writes, "I art directed Ricki and the Flash starring Meryl Streep and directed by Jonathan Demme. It was a wonderful team of all my friends in all departments key grip, key gaffer, production designer, decorator, etc. And now I am retiring from the American movie industry and have begun doing watercolors and small sculptures. I have begun helping poor families who want help making their homes more comfortable, workable, and attractive. My husband Bob is retiring from Sports Illustrated. I am blessed."

Roxana B. Robinson ’68, P’93 is now the President of the Authors guild and is teaching in the MFA Program at Hunter College. She adds, "I have just received the first Rosati Fellowship from Duke University."

Ellen McCoulloch-Lovell ’69 reports, "I stepped down as president of Marlboro College after 11 years in July, 2015. Chris and I have moved back to central VT, to Montpelier, where we renovated a home. This is quite a transition, full of observation and discoveries. I'm starting to take on projects for several clients."

50s

Corinne Silverman Kyle ’50 is "now living in Livingston, NJ and moderately active in this very active community." She reports that she is also helping to manage a community assessment survey and singing in an AARP group at local nursing homes.

Known as "one of a small group of good friends who knew Samuel Beckett personally, adored and instinctively understood his work and was quite simply at the forefront of the intensive study of Beckett's drama," Martha "Marty" Fehsenfeld ’53 wrote Beckett in the Theatre, with Dougald McMillan (1988; RPT.1990). “She observed and recorded Beckett's direction of Footfalls, Happy Days, Endgame, and supervision of Waiting for Godot, was production assistant for Endgame directed by Samuel Beckett, assistant to the director Alan Schenider for the world premiere of Ohio Impromptu, and has performed in Beckett's Happy Days, Footfalls and Rockaby, the later directed by Walter Asmus. Originator of the Beckett Festival of Radio Plays Broadcast on PBS and CBS, she served as project director for the first production of All that Fall.” In 1985 she was authorized by Samuel Beckett to edit his correspondence, serving as editor of the critically acclaimed four volume publication by Cambridge University Press, The Letters of Samuel Beckett. Martha is available to present symposiums and across the table discussions related to her first hand conversations and personal friendship with Samuel Beckett. To schedule, please contact her at mfehsen@mindspring.com.

Frances Springer-Miller Kraus ’54 reports that she is “still skiing at 84 years old,” and she “keeps up with former classmate Anne Adams ’54 who is still a practicing artist.”

Nancy Riegel ’54 is "still teaching adults to read and volunteering also with the symphony guild and church senior citizens." She adds that her granddaughter Elizabeth Cristobel Riegel made Phi Beta Kappa as a junior in Honors College at University of South Carolina and is going to Law School.

Anne Sharpe ’54 reports, "I enjoy living on the Mystic River in CT and watching birds, ducks and geese as well as humans boating! I am a hospice volunteer and also volunteer at a rehab facility."

Nancy Garfield-Woodbridge ’55 published two new children's books in 2015: The Arctic Butterfly, (Ages 4-9), and The Islanders, (ages 8-14). "Since 2012, I've published 9 books and am working [on] #10 for 2016. That book is for young adults and is called Suns of Darkness.”

Rosamonde Pinchot ’57 writes in that at age 81, she is working on a new line of jewelry.

Wilma Greenfield ’58 turned 80 in May. She is a Professor Emerita at Florida Atlantic University, School of Social Work. She reports that although she is fully retired, she still attends and contributes to faculty meetings at FAE.

Jane Hough ’59 writes, "Another move and another challenge with our move to Easton on the Easton Shore. Why move again? Because life is easier in a small town and we have the best of all worlds with the beach 1/2 hour away and Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore under a two hour drive. Best of all birds migrate through here. I gave up my architectural work when I retired and the economy tanked, so now the focus is travel, finishing up the family history and exploring this new world. Being in a community also means more activities and new friends. Life is good."

40s

Barbara Willis Heinrich ’40 reported in May: “In less than a month I'll be 100 and still up and walk about and out gardening, although with a cane so I won't tip over! Wish everyone as lucky as I've been.”

Nancy K. Rumery ’46 married John R. Rumery of Short Hills N.J. on July 23, 1977. They recently celebrated their birthdays.

30s

Jamie Porter Gagarin ’39 passed away on March 27, 2016. Her son Peter Gagarin writes, "She had wonderful memories of her time at Bennington, and her fondness for it continued for the rest of her life. She also was generous in her support of the college. In that regard my brother Michael and I visited Bennington 2 or 3 years ago, where we had the pleasure of meeting with Ms. Silver and other members of the administration and on behalf of our mother delivering a donation to the college. She had a lifelong interest in learning, and I’m sure that her experience at Bennington played a major role in that."